


Memories Can't Be Washed Away

by jujitsuelf



Category: The Losers (2010), The Losers (Comic), The Losers - All Media Types
Genre: Prompt Fill, T-Shirts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-29 14:11:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jujitsuelf/pseuds/jujitsuelf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt fill for - The Losers, Jensen, collecting t-shirts</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memories Can't Be Washed Away

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt left by peaceful_sands at fic_promptly
> 
> ***
> 
> Disclaimer – All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended

People thought Jensen just collected t-shirts because he liked them. Maybe they thought he was overly fashion-conscious or trying to make some kind of statement with the shirts he chose.

Perhaps in some way he was, maybe having the brightest, most eye-wateringly offensive shirts was his way of flipping the bird to the establishment.

But after Bolivia, everything changed. The shirts were no longer just a way to be an individual in a sea of camo and crisply starched uniforms. No, after Jensen saw twenty five innocents killed in a horrifying instant, something shifted inside him. Now when he bought a shirt which made Cougar shake his head or Roque roll his eyes, it was a tiny reminder that he was Jake Jensen, former American citizen. He wasn’t just a ghost, ghosts didn’t need clothes. Jake Jensen did because he was still alive.

But however full his bag became, however many t-shirts he crammed into it, one in particular was always neatly folded and washed. The bright pink of the Petunias logo smiled up cheerily at Jensen every time he searched for something to wear. Pink was home. Nothing else was quite as special. He stopped wearing it in case anything happened to it. Irreplaceable didn’t begin to describe that shirt. That shirt was everything he loved and missed, printed onto cotton.

On the rare occasions that he did wear it, he always washed it as soon as he could afterward and put it safely away again.

One day he noticed Cougar watching him as he folded it. Jensen stopped, not sure what to say or do. It was stupid and sentimental, getting misty-eyed over a t-shirt. But Cougar just nodded silently and touched the brim of his hat. Jensen smiled a little. Yeah, if anyone could understand the power a simple object could take on, it would be Cougar.

Maybe when he got back to the USA, he’d trash most of his shirt collection and start again. But the Petunias shirt would never be thrown away. Memories and hope couldn’t be binned.

So Jensen went on collecting t-shirts and hiding behind their flashy colors. If Cougar looked at him a little more often with a tiny smile on his face, well, that was okay, wasn’t it?


End file.
